Apapa Customs Engages Stakeholders on Transition to Digital License & Permit System
By Abass Quadri
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area Command, has engaged key stakeholders in a seamless transition to the new-age digital license & permit system to streamline port operations.
The event, held on Wednesday, 21 October 2026 and attended by key maritime industry players, remains part of the Service’s commitment to addressing issues related to clearance and other technical processes.
Delivering his opening remarks, the Customs Area Controller in charge of Apapa Area Command, Comptroller Murtala Muazu, highlighted the importance of adapting to the Service’s ongoing technological reform.
“Earlier on, I was in a meeting with the Presidential Identity, Business, and Government Council (PEBEC) team whose major aim is to streamline issues that have to do with clearance and other technical concerns that are related to the port ecosystem. Whether we like it or not, the service is moving towards an innovative stance. Because of that, we must keep up with the nature of changes, and also the nature of technological development that is ongoing,” he said.
Muazu said the progressive steps taken are not meant to burden port users but to ease congestion and create more opportunities in the maritime landscape. He urged participants to express their concerns, as the program is an avenue to reduce the knowledge gaps affecting Customs operations.
Commending the backend officers behind the new digital platform, the Comptroller, License & Permit, Comptroller Ngozika Anozie acknowledged the stakeholders’ collaborative efforts and input in shaping the new tool. “We were here in this zone, likewise other zones all over the country, and we promised you that we are going to make licenses and permits automated. Today, we have kept that promise of making licenses and permits automated, and I must tell you, it’s teamwork,” she said.
The Apapa Area Command also received a delegate from the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Mentoring Mission Team, which came to explore areas of collaboration to strengthen the existing framework and dislodge miscreants involved in money laundering.
